Shuttle-changing mechanism for looms.



No. 787,536. PATENTED AUG. 25, 1903 A.'E., A. & G. WALKER. SHUTTLECHANGING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.11, 1902.

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No. "reuse UNTTED STATES Iatented August 25, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

OF NORYVOOD GREEN, NEAR HALIFAX, ENGLAND.

SHUTTLE-CHANGING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 737,536, dated August25, 1903.

Original application filed March 21, 1902, fierial No. 99,372. Dividedand this application filed November 11, 1902. Serial No. 180,910. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ALBERT EDWARD WALKER, ARTHUR WALKER, and GEORGEW'ALKER, all subjects of His Majesty the King of Great Britain, residingat Norwood Green, near Halifax, England, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Shuttle- Changing Mechanism for Looms, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of weaving-looms inwhich the shuttle-chan ging mechanism is putinto operation by plates andchains, lags, or their equiva lent mounted upon and actuated by anintermittently-operated card cylinder or barrel; and its object is toprovide simple means for giving the operative control, whereby he canput the cylinder into operation at will or when the shuttle requireschanging. For this purpose we provide two ratchet-wheels on the cylinderand provide two pawls or hooks to engage these ratchet-wheels. The pawlsare pivoted to an arm or lever which is vibrated in the ordinary way bya cam and lifting-rod. One pawl is normally prevented from engaging itsratchet-wheel by a removable stoppiece, and the other ratchet-wheel hasa blank space in it--that is to say, one tooth is omitted. Consequentlyeach time the pawl meets this space in the ratchet-wheel the cylinderremains stationary until the said stop-piece is moved sufficiently toallow the other pawl to engage its ratchet-wheel and operate thecylinder. The plates or lags are so arranged that the first movement ofthe cylinder after it has been stationary brings into active positionthe particular plate or lag provided to put the shuttle-changingmechanism into operation. The said stop-piece may consist of a rodnormally held by a spring in such a position that it engages the pawl oran arm thereon, thereby holding the pawl away from the ratchetwheel andpreventing it engaging the teeth. A cord or its equivalent is attachedto the rod and is carried around to the front of the loom, so as to bewithin convenient reach of the attendant, who simply pulls the cord tomove the stop-piece out of action when the shuttle requires changing.

To fully describe our invention, reference is made to the accompanyingsheet of drawings, forming a part of this specification, in whichsimilar reference-numerals indicate corresponding parts in each of theviews.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of such parts of a loom-frame andattachments thereto as are necessary to illustrate the application ofour invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of same. Fig. 3 is a view of theratchet-wheel, in which one tooth is omitted.

Upon the cardcylinder we affix two ratchet wheels 100 and 102. Theratchetwheel100, which may be termed the drivingratchet, is operated bythe pawl 103, and the ratchet-wheel 102, which may be termed thestarting-ratchet, is operated by the pawl 1 01. Both pawls are pivotedon the stud 7 0 fixed in the lever 70, which works on the fulcrum-rod71. The lever rises and falls bymeans of the usual lifting-rod 60 andcam 00, fixed upon the shaft 7 5. The employment of two ratchetwheels isfor the purpose of allowing the cylinder 60 to make only one rotationafter each actuation of the cord 110, which controls the mechanism. Thisobject is attained by omitting one tooth at the point from thedriving-ratchet 100, Fig. 3, and by keeping the pawl 101 normally out ofaction with the startingratchet 102. The pawl 101 is kept out of actionwith its ratchet 102 by the finger 108 on the said pawl being engaged bythe projection 105 at the end of the sliding rod 106, which rod ismounted in the slide-bearings 107 and 107, fixed in the lever 70. Thesliding rod 106 is pressed toward and bears upon the finger 108 on thepawl 101 by the spiral spring 109 on the rod, the spring beingcompressed between the collar 100 and the bearing 107. The stud 70 onthe lever 70 limits the move ment of the rod 106 when submitted to theaction of the spring 109 and defines the extent of movement of theprojection 105 over the finger 108.

To the rear end of the sliding rod 100 a cord 110 is attached, which issuitably guided around to the front of the loom. When the cord 110 ispulled, the sliding rod 106 is drawn backward and the pressure of theprojection 105 upon the finger 108 of the pawl 101 is removed and thepawl 101 thereby allowed by its weight to fall-upon the starting-ratchet102. Then immediately upon the rising of the cam 60 the cylinder 60 isput into action and turned over the space 100, where the tooth isomitted in the ratchet-wheel 100. The rotation of the cylinder 60 isthen taken up by the driving-ratchet 100 and continued by it until thespace of the missing tooth again arrives under the pawl 103, when thecylinder comes to rest, the said pawl at each rise of the cam 60 passingineffectively over the space 01": the missing tooth, the pawl 101 havingbeen previously withdrawn from contact with the starting-ratchet 102when the tension upon the cord was released. The cord 110 may be pulledby the operative when it is desired to rotate the card-cylinder for thepurpose of producing at long distances stripes of diiferent colorsacross the fabric. It may also be pulled by the attendant when it isnecessary on the near exhaustion of Weft to rotate the card-cylinder forthe purpose of bringing into operation automatic shuttle changing andfeeding mechanism. For the same purpose the cord may be attached to theweft-fork arm and drawn back by it when the weft-fork is actuated uponthe breaking or failing of the weft-thread.

The lags or cards 60, into the perforations in which the pins 61 and 70on the levers 61 and 70, respectively, fall, can of course be arrangedto cause the shuttle-changing or, as the case may be, the shuttlechanging and feeding levers 61 and 70 to operate at any desiredintervals during the period of the r0- tation of the card-cylinder (30.

hat we claim is 1. In a loom, the combination with the cardcylinder oftwo ratchet-wheels, one of which has a blank space, a pawl normallyactuating said ratchetwvheel except when it meets such space, a secondpawl and means for bringing it into action upon the second ratchet-wheelin order to restart the cylinder.

2. In a loom the combination with an operating-lever, a pawl pivoted tosaid lever and a ratchet-wheel, of a finger on said pawl a slid-- ingrod engagingsaid finger and holding said pawl out of engagement withsaid ratchet and means under the control of the operator for releasingsaid finger and causing the pawl to be brought into engagement with itsratchet, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT EDWARD WVALKER. ARTHUR WVALKER. GEORGE WALKER. Witnesses HERBERTJ. J EFFERY, WILLIAM SoRUroN.

